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Mark (money)
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:''This article is about the archaic weight of measure/currency. For other uses of ''mark'', see the disambiguation page ''
Mark''.''
Image:WiemarRepublic_September_01_1923_50MillionMark.jpg 200px|thumb|right|1923 50 Million Mark worth approximately $12 million (US-1923) 9 years earlier, but only $1US when printed. Worthless a few weeks later.
The word '''mark''' (from an apparently non-
Teutonic word found in all
Teutonic languages and
Romance languages, and
Latinized as ''marca'' or ''marcus'') originally expressed a measure of weight only for gold and silver, commonly used throughout
western Europe and equivalent to 8 oz (ounces). Considerable variations, however, occurred throughout the
Middle ages (see
Charles du Fresne, sieur du Cange du Cange, ''Gloss. med. et infim. Lat.'', s.v. ''Marca'' for a full list).
In
England the "mark" never appeared as a coin, but as a money of account only, and apparently came into use in the 10th century through the
Danes. It first equalled 100
penny pence, but after the
Norman Conquest equalled 160 pence = 2/3 of the
Pound Sterling, or 13s. 4d., and therefore in Scotland 31s. 2d. (due to the lower value of the
Scottish Pound)
In
Scotland, the
Merk Scots comprised a silver coin of this value, issued first in 1570 and afterwards in
1663.
In northern
Germany (especially
Hamburg) and
Scandinavia, the mark was a unit of account and coin worth 16
schilling or
skilling.
Germany adopted the mark as its currency following unification in 1871. This first mark came to be known as the
papiermark during the
hyperinflation which it suffered up to 1923. The most valueable mark were printed in 1908, today they would be worth up $55 million U.S. a piece. A new mark was introduced, called the
rentenmark (worth 1,000,000,000,000 papiermark), swiftly replaced by the
reichsmark in 1924.
The
Deutsche mark was introduced by the western allies in their zones of occupation in 1948, with the Soviets issuing their own Deutsche mark (often referred to as the
East German mark or Ostmark, later officially called the "Mark der DDR") later that same year.
See also
*
British coinage
*
Markland (Scots) Markland
References
*{{1911}}
Category:Currencies of Germany
Category:Currencies of Scotland
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